Sutton Hoo - Page 1

Sutton Hoo, (grid reference TM288487) near Woodbridge, Suffolk, is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of the 6th and early 7th centuries, one of which contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance.

Sutton Hoo is of primary importance to early medieval historians because it sheds light on a period of English history which is on the margin between myth, legend and historical documentation. Use of the site culminated at a time when the ruler (Raedwald) of East Anglia held senior power among the English, and played a dynamic (if ambiguous) part in the establishment of Christian rulership in England. It is central to understanding of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia and of the period in a wider perspective.

The ship-burial, excavated in 1939, is one of the most magnificent archaeological finds in England for its size and completeness, the far-reaching connections, quality and beauty of its contents, and for the profound interest of the burial ritual.

Although it is the ship-burial which commands the widest attention from tourists, there is also rich historical meaning in the two separate cemeteries, their position in relation to the Deben estuary and the North Sea, and their relation to other sites in the immediate neighbourhood.

Lid of Anglo Saxon purse

Background

Sutton Hoo from the Deben tideway (Mound 2 visible on the horizon above the farm).

Discovery

Sutton Hoo is felt by many to be a magical place, and the legend surrounding its discovery and excavation adds to its allure and mysterious atmosphere. The find which was so evocative and illuminating of the origins of the English nation was made on the very eve of the Second World War.

Mrs Edith May Pretty J.P. lived in Sutton Hoo House and owned the estate. She had moved there with her husband in 1926, but he died in 1934 leaving her with a young son. They had often wondered what the strange, rabbit-infested mounds were which they could see from the house.[2] In around 1900 an elderly resident of Woodbridge had spoken of 'untold gold' in the Sutton Hoo mounds,[3] and Mrs Pretty's nephew, a dowser, repeatedly identified signals of buried gold from what is now known to be the ship-mound.[4] Mrs Pretty became interested in Spiritualism, and was encouraged by friends who claimed to see figures at the mounds.[5] By popular account she had a vivid dream of the funeral procession and treasures.

Through the Ipswich Museum, in 1938 she obtained the services of Basil Brown, a Suffolk man whose smallholding had failed four years earlier, and who had taken up full-time archaeology on Roman sites for the museum.[6] Mrs Pretty took Mr Brown to the site, and suggested that he start digging at Mound 1, one of the largest. The mound had obviously been disturbed, and in consultation with Ipswich Museum Brown decided instead to open three smaller mounds during 1938 with the help of three estate labourers. These did reveal interesting treasures, but only in fragments as the mounds had been robbed.[7]

Mrs Pretty still wanted a full excavation of Mound 1 and, in May 1939, Brown began work helped by the gamekeeper and the gardener. Driving a trench from the east end they soon discovered ship-rivets in position, and the colossal size of the find began to dawn on them. After patient weeks of clearing out earth from within the ship?s hull they reached the burial chamber and realised it was undisturbed.[8] It lay beneath the exact spot where Mrs Pretty had told him to dig a year previously.

In June 1939 Charles Phillips of Cambridge University, hearing rumour of a ship discovery (the 1938 find), visited Ipswich Museum and was taken by Mr Maynard, the Curator, to the site. Staggered by what he now saw, within a short time Phillips, in discussion with the Ipswich Museum, the British Museum, the Science Museum and Office of Works undertook the excavation of the burial chamber. He assembled a team of experts including W.F. Grimes and O.G.S. Crawford (Ordnance Survey), Stuart and Peggy Piggot and others. Basil Brown continued to clear the ship.[9] Mrs Pretty sent Brown to a spiritualist meeting in Woodbridge, where the medium had an intimation of his discovery.[10]

The need for secrecy (as the wonderful finds began to appear) and various vested interests led to confrontation between Phillips and the Ipswich Museum. The museum's Honorary President, Mr Reid Moir F.R.S., had been a founder of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia in 1908, and the Curator, Mr Maynard, was its Secretary and Editor from 1921. In 1935?6 Charles Phillips and his friend (Sir) Grahame Clark had taken control of the Society. Mr Maynard then turned his attention to developing Brown?s work for the Museum. Phillips (hostile towards Moir) had now reappeared, and he deliberately excluded Moir and Maynard from the new discovery.[11]

The whole excavation was overshadowed by the imminence of war with Germany. The finds, having been packed and removed to London, were brought back for a Treasure Trove Inquest held in the autumn at Sutton village hall. Brown, who remained loyal to his employer Mrs Pretty throughout, gave his testimony with the rest, and it was decided that since the treasure was buried without the intention to recover it, it was the property of Mrs Pretty as landowner.[12]

These stories alone would have been enough to get the legend of Sutton Hoo into the history books. However, Mrs Pretty made one final decision which ensured her a special place in Britain's archaeological history. In an act of almost unrivalled generosity she decided to bequeath the treasure as a gift to the whole nation, so that the meaning and excitement of her discovery could be shared by everyone.[13]

Finally the fact that this burial, among all the others, had escaped from being plundered was another of the wonderful coincidences of the Sutton Hoo legend. In medieval times the site had been divided by boundary ditches to form fields. One of those ditches cut across the western side of Mound 1, giving it a lopsided appearance. A robber pit dug in the 16th century had been sunk at the apparent centre, missing the real centre and the burial deposit by a narrow margin.

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